Author Stephanie Meyer struck gold with her worldwide best selling "Twilight" series following that exact pattern. Following the popular lead of the "Harry Potter" series, local bookstores across the area held release parties for the fourth and final book in the series, "Breaking Dawn."

Marie Kulikowsky, the public relations manager at the Barnes & Noble in DeWitt, said the store had been preparing for the release of the final book for about two months.

Visitors to the store were treated to a trivia game around the store, as well as previews for the "Twilight" movie, which comes out in December. Fans also took part in a book discussion and a Thriller dance off (for videos, visit cnylink.com).

"I can understand why teen girls would love them," Kulikowsky said of the books: aside from a "hunky" teenage vampire in Edward, the "Twilight" series features an incredibly identifiable main character with narrator Bella Swan.

Overall, Kulikowsky said the majority of people attending the release party were girls aged 14 to 18, the main readership for the books. While there were many pre-orders, "probably several hundred," she said, there were still a good number of people attending the party who had not pre-ordered "Breaking Dawn." Still, unlike the ever-popular "Harry Potter" series by J.K. Rowling, there were no problems for readers trying to get a copy of "Breaking Dawn."

Nicole Pelsue, a Syracuse resident and SUNY Oneonta senior, said there were about 150 customers there for the "Breaking Dawn" party by 10:30 p.m. -- 30 minutes after it was scheduled to start.

"There were so many more people here for 'Harry Potter'," she said, but attributed the smaller numbers -- which still were enough to crowd and warm the store -- to the different readership. "Anyone could read 'Harry Potter.'